Insights Into the Procurement and Distribution of Fossiliferous Chert Artefacts Across Southern Australia from the Archival Record

Home , Coastline of Australia, Debitage, Eucla Basin, Nullarbor Plain

AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 2019, VOL. 85, NO. 2, 170–183 https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2019.1657320

ARTICLE Insights into the procurement and distribution of fossiliferous chert artefacts across southern Australia from the archival record

Ingrid Warda , Marcus M. Key Jr.b , Rosine Rierac, Annie Carsond and Michael O’Learyc aSchool of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia; bDepartment of Earth Sciences, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, USA; cDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia; dWestern Australian Museum, Welshpool, Australia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Following from previous research in Western Australia, this study explores the use of Received 2 February 2019 embedded microfossils—including bryozoan and foraminiferal fossil assemblages—to help Accepted 15 August 2019 identify source and distribution of fossiliferous chert artefacts from South Australian archives. KEYWORDS Artefacts from key archaeological sites include Allen’s Cave, Koonalda Cave, Wilson’s Bluff, Fossiliferous chert; sourcing; Ooldea and Kongarong. Preliminary analyses indicate a possible differentiation of fossiliferous microfossils; mobility; chert types east and west of the Eyre Peninsula, from Otway Basin and Eucla Basin limestones, South Australia respectively. The widespread distribution and trade of fossiliferous chert is supported by ethnographic descriptions of the sources, procurement and trade as recorded by Daisy Bates, Thomas Draper Campbell and Norman Tindale. Further work combining biostratigraphy and lithology with archaeology and ethnography is needed to explore these ideas further.

Background of the WA Museum Archives have already revealed examples of fossiliferous chert artefacts from regions Chert, or flint as it is often synonymously termed, much further north and east than initially assumed has been used for making stone tools for thousands ’ of years, being associated with the earliest fossil (Key et al. 2019;OLeary et al. 2017;Wardetal. remains in Africa (Hershkovitz et al. 2018) through 2019). At the same time, preliminary studies of diag- to small, fine artefacts in the Neolithic and later nostic fossil bryozoan assemblages within samples of periods of France and England (Beasley 1984; chert debitage from southwest Western Australia Cunliffe 2001:89–90). It has also been used in more demonstrated that the source could not be offshore recent times for industrial and armament purposes in the Perth Basin as previously purported (Glover (e.g. Flint et al. 1989:20). In Australia, chert artefacts 1975a, 1975b) but onshore in the Eucla Basin ’ are documented in several early sites, most notably (O Leary et al. 2017). However, the idea of long-dis- Devil’s Lair (Dortch 1984) and Allen’s Cave (Cane tance trade of fossiliferous chert with Aboriginal 1995; Marun 1972), and also in sites dating to the groups westward continues to be dismissed due to early to mid-Holocene (Beasley 1984; Cann et al. the apparently large distances involved (Dortch and 1999; Coutts 1981; McNiven et al. 2012). Indeed in Dortch 2019; Glover 1975a). This is despite evidence SW Western Australia, fossil-bearing chert has been of trade of this material up to 700 km eastward used, arguably erroneously (see O’Leary et al. 2017), (Bates 1921;Johnston1941; Nicholson and Cane as a chronological divide between early to mid- 1991; see also Bourman et al. 2016:167; Ward et al. Holocene age sites (Dortch 1986; Dortch and 2019), and also the distribution of lithic raw materi- McArthur 1985; Glover et al. 1993; Hallam 1987; als, edge-ground axes, wooden items, ochre and baler Marwick 2002; Smith 1993). shell hundreds of kilometres over much of Australia More important than the chronological context is (see McBryde 1997;Muntetal.2018:79 the spatial context of chert-bearing archaeological and references). sites and in particular those found inland from Having previously focused on fossiliferous chert coastal sources (Beasley 1984; see also below) as archives from Western Australia, this study explores these imply human dispersal or trade. Investigations the South Australian archival records1 and what this

CONTACT Ingrid Ward [email protected] College School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia, M257 Archaeology, UWA Crawley 6009, Australia 1Attempts were also made to explore the archival record in Victoria. Queries of the Victorian State heritage databases revealed 2889 registered Aboriginal places where chert has been identified across the State. These registers do not discriminate biogenic and non-biogenic chert. Viewing these records is complicated by the need to obtain approval of all registered Aboriginal parties, as well as the approval of the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council (VAHC). Hence it was decided just to focus on the South Australian archival collections for this study. ß 2019 Australian Archaeological Association AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 171

Figure 1. Location of sites and basins mentioned in the text. might also reveal about the use and distribution of Terminology this diagnostic material. In particular, we focus on the As outlined by Munt et al. (2018) there is some con- records of Norman Tindale, Daisy Bates and Thomas fusion in the use of the terms ‘chert’ and ‘flint’ for Draper Campbell, each of whom recorded and col- microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline silica (e.g. lected chert artefacts from sites along the Eucla coast Luedtke 1992;Whittaker1994:70; see also Sieveking and in other parts of South Australia between 1930 and Hart 1986). In Koonalda Cave, Marun (1972) and late 1960. As part of this investigation we identify identifies flint and ‘numerically insignificant’ quanti- bryozoan fossils on the surface of artefacts from key archaeological sites, including Allen’s Cave, Koonalda ties of chert and limestone, whilst Cane (1995)and ’ Cave, Wilson’s Bluff, Ooldea and a few other sites in Wright (1971) use only the term flint. For the Allen s South Australia (Figure 1). This follows a similar Cave site, Munt et al. (2018:74) use chert for lighter ‘ ’ study undertaken by Benbow and Nicholson (1992), coloured material and flint for denser, blacker who also undertook a lithological and microscopic material that is more like the flint from the English comparison of artefacts from the South Australian chalks from which the term derived (e.g. Rapp Museum and Moeller collections with silicified source 2009:76, 79). Glover (1975a) similarly preferred the ‘ ’ material from Wilson’s Bluff, Koonalda Cave and term chert over the unsatisfactorily defined flint to Head of the Bight. Whilst distinct lithologies were describe artefacts from SW Western Australia, observed in each of the source materials, and in par- including Devils Lair. In the Lake Condah region of ticular the presence of relict bryozoan clasts in the Victoria however, McNiven et al. (2012:50) differenti- Wilson Bluff Limestone, it was found that the vari- ate (non-fossiliferous) chert from cherts that ‘contain ation in degree of silicification precluded provenanc- microfossils consistent with flint’. ing artefacts to any of these particular sources Both chert and flint are formed by diagenetic (Benbow and Nicholson 1992). We argue that the replacement of carbonate by silica under high pres- identification of the embedded fossils is the key to sure by burial beneath the seafloor. Flint is generally provenancing fossiliferous chert artefacts. We preface reserved for material which has originated from this discussion with a brief consideration of the ter- chalk deposits (or marl) and chert for material from minology and stratigraphic context of chert-bearing limestone deposits, the latter usually formed from limestones along the southern coastline of Australia. the skeletons of organisms with a calcium carbonate 172 I. WARD ET AL. biomineralogical structure. This explains the foraminifera (James and Bone 1991;O’Connell et al. description of ‘silicified limestone’—or more specif- 2012). According to Benbow and Nicholson (1992:3), ically ‘silicified bryozoan limestone’—by Benbow the younger Miocene limestone has been locally silici- and Nicholson (1992) for artefacts from the fied in groundwater environments around the mar- Nullarbor Plain. Similarly, in SW Western Australia, gins of the Nullarbor Plain, such as in the Yarle Glover (1974, 1975b; see also Martin 1982) makes Lakes—Ooldea area. Further east is the Upper Eocene the distinction between ‘fossiliferous cryptocrystal- to Middle Miocene Gambier Limestone within the line chert’ and ‘palaeontologically barren’ chert. Gambier and Otway Basins, which also contains fos- Indeed Martin (1982) suggests there may be up to siliferous chert (Blakemore et al. 2014; Bourman et al. five types of chert in SW Western Australia, differ- 2016). The latter outcrops east of Naracoorte scarp entiated by presence/absence, type and abundance and in coastal areas near Mount Gambier (Sexton of embedded fossil species. Hence the more descrip- 1965). Eocene chert and silica-rich rocks have also tive terminology, rather than simply chert, is been observed in the Bremer Basin and in the St important in terms of characterising the use and Vincent Basin (Li et al. 2000). provenance of these silicified artefacts. Here we fol- Fossiliferous chert occurs as horizontal seams within ’ low Glover s(1975a, 1975b) example and use the these limestone sequences, which are present along term fossiliferous chert to describe archival samples. coastal cliffs (Figure 2) and in some cave profiles. Shallow caves are formed within the Miocene Nullarbor Geological stratigraphy of Limestone and deeper caves penetrate into the underly- Cainozoic limestones ing Upper Eocene Wilson Bluff Limestone (Jennings 1963; Miller et al. 2012;Sexton1965;WebbandJames The Cainozoic sequences of the Eucla Basin have 2006). The former is present in Abrakurrie Cave and at been explored by Benbow (1990), Benbow et al. Wilson Bluff as well as along the Nullarbor Plain and at (1982), Clarke et al. (2003), Cockbain (2014), LowerCalcretePit(Johnson2015)(Figure 1). Wilson Gammon et al. (2000), Hou et al. (2003, 2006), James Bluff Limestone is present within Abrakurrie Cave and and Bone (1991), Jones (1990), Li et al. (1996), Lowry at Wilson Bluff (Johnson 2015; Miller et al. 2012) and (1970), McGowran et al. (2004), Miller et al. (2012), also at Koonalda, Warbla and Weebubbie caves (Davey O’Connell et al. (2012) and Quilty (1974). The and Frank 1984;Nicholson1994;WebbandJames Cainozoic succession is represented by the Middle 2006)(Figure 1). Eocene to Middle Miocene Eucla Group, which can be divided into four stratigraphic units: Potential sources and Aboriginal i. the Middle Eocene Hampton Sandstone; procurement of fossiliferous chert ii. the Middle to Late Eocene marine Wilson Bluff Limestone and time equivalent terrestrial At Koonalda Cave, there is evidence that chert quar- dune deposits; rying extended vertically about 75 m below the sur- iii. the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene marine face and laterally up to 300 m from the entrance of Abrakurrie Limestone and the cave. Archival records on the 1967 Koonalda iv. the Early to Middle Miocene marine Nullarbor Cave expedition by Dr Eustace Couper Black (Black Limestone and time equivalent terres- 1967) state trial sandstones.

There is no record of Early Eocene, Early Oligocene nor Late Miocene units. The two main fossiliferous chert-bearing units within these sequences are the middle-late Eocene Wilson Bluff Limestone, which extends to the inner margin of the Eucla Platform, and the Miocene Nullarbor Limestone. Both units occur together in outcrop and drillcore. The Wilson Bluff Limestone has a chalky macroscopic aspect and is composed of micrite to microbio- clastic carbonate silt with abundant bryozoans and scattered cherts. It accumulated in a cool water, open ocean environment (James and Bone 1991; Lowry Figure 2. Band of nodular flint in Wilson Bluff cliff-face as 1970). The Nullarbor Limestone is a well cemented photographed by Norman Tindale (Tindale 1965 [from South sub-tropical limestone with numerous large benthic Australian Museum archives AA338-50-3]). AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 173

… the flint occurs as round boulders of varying rolled as opposed to those from primary, outcrop- size, seen on the side walls of the cave, sometimes ping sources found in the cliff faces. At Wilson’s in a horizontal stratum, sometimes showing as Bluff, Campbell (AA52-4-7E, South Australian black stones, sometimes as white. Plenty of broken ‘ flint on the floor, some showing conchoidal Museum Archives) notes that Aboriginals carried fracture. The idea seems to be that it was a flint the pebbles to the sheltered side of the coastal mine; the rather inaccessible parts where it is dunes, where they broke them up and made imple- mined being associated with myth of totemic ments which were the transported to inland sites’. ancestors, as it was procurable in more easily However, access to the cliff faces or beach gravels reached parts. was limited due to the sheer nature of the cliffs, In his diaries, Tindale (1965) references another with only six identified and named routes to the sea major native flint mine, ‘n.n. Njinjitjokolba (?)’ [sic], along the whole 200 km stretch of Nullarbor coast- just over 100 km further west at Wilson’s Bluff that line (Bates 1918; Gara and Cane 1988). In addition, is accessed from the west via a sand ridge: where both Miocene and Eocene sequences outcrop, The flint outcrops in horizontal bands up to 9 both could have contributed to the beach deposits at inches high at intervals through about 70 feet of the base of the cliffs. These could further have been chalk cliff. All the accessible seams as high as one mixed together through successive sea-level changes can reach have been battered off flush with the (Collins 1988; Lambeck et al. 2014; Wright 1971). chalk by Aborigines; those seams which are beyond Nevertheless, cortex types may at least provide a reach project from to eight inches [sic]. useful distinction between primary and secondary This is presumably the same flint quarry known to sources of fossiliferous chert. the Mirning People in the west as Kardilyerra (Gara Less useful as a guide to source is colour, yet and Cane 1988:81). both Tindale and Bates specifically note a distinction Whilst there is archaeological evidence that these between ‘white’ and ‘black’ flint, with Tindale high- underground sources were used by the people who lighting a darker band of flint in the cliffs at lived on the Nullarbor Plain (Davey and Frank Wilson’s Bluff in his field notes (Figure 3).2 Bates 1984:16; Flood 2004; Gara and Cane 1988:173; Marun (1930, 1932b) further ascribes a different value to 1972; Wright 1971), the main source of flint accord- the darker flint (see also below): ing to Bates (1918:164) was a quarry at Wilson Bluff A certain species of hard black flint, called jee’mari near Eucla on the South Australia/Western Australia in the border of South and West Australia, was also border. The flint outcrops about half-way down the specially valued by men in far areas, owing to the 90 m cliff face, although apparently little evidence of tradition, which went along with the jee’mari, that quarrying remains on the face itself (Cane and Gara the sharpened and finished weapon was produced 1989:26). The flint is described as translucent and from the stomach of the jeemari totem men. honey-coloured, with inclusions of coarse-grained white-grey opaque material. A small, more inaccess- Characterising fossiliferous chert ible flint outcrop is located at Sponge Cove at Head of the Bight and this may also have been used by Geoarchaeologists use various palaeontologic, litho- Aboriginal people as a source of flint (Eyre 1845 in logic, geochemical and geophysical parameters to Nicholson and Cane 1991). determine the source of chert/flint and other lithic Weathered nodules of flint also occur as beach artefacts. The key is to choose an approach with gravel deposits and storm shingle beaches along sufficient discriminating features for the various much of the southern coastline of Australia (e.g. possible source localities to be distinguished. Both Beasley 1984, their Figure 5.13; see also Bourman destructive and non-destructive methods have been et al. 2016; Flint et al. 1989). T.D. Campbell’s diaries used to try and characterise physical and chemical (AA52-4-5, South Australian Museum Archives) properties of chert/flint (Colao et al. 2010; record that Hogberg€ et al. 2012; Ray 2007), with most studies still often based on petrographic analysis due to … vast mounds of flint pebbles occur on parts of the South coast of the state. On the South East wider availability, lower cost and sometimes better shoreline occur minor headlands of Miocene discrimination (e.g. Dreesen & Dusar 2004;Flugel€ & limestone … these eroded remnants of limestone Flugel€ 1997; Martin 1982). A number of studies were the source of vast masses of flint pebbles on focus on, or at least include as part of a wider study, some beaches. the fossil content of the lithic artefact in an attempt Beach gravels may have provided a more accessible (secondary) source of fossiliferous chert for 2Black flint was also preferred for calcining applications in industry as it produced a whiter product. Freshly broken surfaces of black flint, Aboriginal people. These secondary sources have a waterworn pebbles and museum specimens of black flint rapidly lose very distinctive cortex, which is smooth and water- their dark colour and develop a white patina (Flint et al. 1989:26). 174 I. WARD ET AL.

provide information on the characteristics of the marine environment in which the facies accumulated, such as water temperature, salinity and water depth, and thus help to trace the regional scale geographic origin of the outcrop from which the chert artefacts were collected. Thirty percent of the Cainozoic species of benthic foraminifera from Southern Australia are endemic or semi-endemic (Li et al. 1996), and the identification of endemic species would confirm the geographic origin of the chert. Identifying key genera and species of planktonic foraminifera through serial sections could also be used to constrain the age and hence stratigraphic interval of the chert-bearing facies with a precision below one million years, as the living range of key Figure 3. Sketch of flint/chert seams within Wilson’sBluff species is calibrated to the geomagnetic polarity and from Tindale’s diary, 1965, with arrow marking ‘top dark flint to the astronomical time scales (Wade et al. 2011). seam’ (AA338-1-43-3_0552, South Australian Museum Archives). Finally, the foraminiferal assemblage of outcrops could be identified to aid in the determination of to fully characterise it and determine its source (e.g. the potential source of the chert artefact. Outcrops Key et al. 2014, 2019; Morris 2010;O’Leary with similar ages accumulated in similar environ- et al. 2017). ment and in similar large scale geographic areas and For fossiliferous chert/flint, physical properties, can extend over long distances; for example, out- colour, texture and microfossil assemblages can vary crops with Eocene cherts extend over more than within and between samples even in a limited area 1,700 km along the southern Australian coast (Hogberg€ and Olausson 2007; Meeks 2000; Ray (Gammon et al. 2000; Li et al. 2000) and there is no 2007). However, it may be possible to attribute it to a existing precise description of the lateral variation of particular stratigraphic formation (or biostratigraphic this outcrop. The latter could be precisely described unit). Studies elsewhere, particularly in Europe, have in order to create index characteristics of the shown that the origins of chert in limestone are most microfacies over several kilometres. This could be commonly related to the occurrence and dissolution used to identify the relatively precise origin of each of sponge spicules (Knauth 1979). Others have used chert artefact. foraminiferal assemblages to characterise limestone Preliminary analyses of the fossiliferous chert sequences (e.g. Haig et al. 1997; Riera et al. 2019). material analysed in the Western Australian study The presence of the benthic foraminiferoid (O’Leary et al. 2017) indicate the cherts contain a Maslinella chapmani in chert artefacts from SW mixed assemblage of small benthic foraminifera of Western Australia was used to ascribe a Middle to the orders Rotaliida, Bulimida and Textulariida, and Upper Eocene age of this material (Glover and of planktonic foraminifera (Figure 4). Small Cockbain 1971). The common presence of this same Rotaliida and planktonic forms are the dominant foraminiferoid in marine core samples was the main type of foraminifera, whereas large foraminifera and reason to propose an offshore source for these arte- Miliolida have not been identified at this stage of facts (Quilty 1978). However, the subsequent work of the study. This suggests that most of the cherts O’Leary et al. (2017) on the bryozoan assemblages examined during the preliminary survey are coming have helped reject this long-held hypothesis. from limestone formed in cold to temperate oceanic waters, at water depths >50 m, following the general criteria outlined by Murray (1991) and Grimsdale Identification of embedded foraminifera and Van Morkhoven (1995). It is unlikely that the Here we continue the work of O’Leary et al. (2017) Nullarbor Limestone, which was accumulated in to argue that the characterisation of both the sub-tropical waters, is the source of the chert arte- embedded bryozoan and foraminiferal microfossil facts. However, the Wilson Bluff Limestone, which assemblages within both the chert artefacts and accumulated in cool, open mesophotic waters, could chert-bearing limestone sequences are the key to be the source but additional analyses are necessary provenancing artefacts manufactured from this to validate the origin of these and other material. Foraminiferal assemblages can be charac- chert artefacts. terised at the order, genus and species level. Foraminifera (and other fossils) have not been Characterising the assemblage at the order level can specifically identified in the cherts of the Wilson AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 175

Figure 4. Examples of foraminifera observed in the thin sections of cherts from Western Australia, (A and B) Axial and equator- ial sections of Rotaliida benthic foraminifera; (C) section through the biserial plan of a carbonate-cement agglutinated benthic foraminifera belonging to Textulariida; (D) biserial-plan section of Buliminida and (E) axial section of planktonic foraminifera.

Bluff Limestone and Nullarbor Limestone but only in fossils, differentiation of fossiliferous chert artefacts the limestone unit more generally. The Wilson Bluff sourced from the Nullarbor Limestone and Wilson Limestone contains abundant bryozoan and plank- Bluff Limestone may be possible. tonic foraminifera fossils and is characterised in the biostratigraphy by the first appearance of Identification of embedded bryozoa Turborotalia pomeroli (McGowran et al. 2004). Globigerapsis index is also another diagnostic fora- Due to the destructive nature of thin sectioning, it miniferoid of this formation (McGowran et al. 2004). is not desirable (nor allowed by the museum) to Based on MacGillivray’s(1895)monographon undertake thin section analysis of artefacts. Hence Australian Cainozoic bryozoans, five Eocene species investigations and identifications (by MK) of bryo- of bryozoans occur in the Middle-Late Ecoene zoan fossils from South Australian archives were Wilson Bluff Limestone. Three are cheilostomes, restricted to those visible on the surface of artefac- Adeonellopsissp.,Cellaria rigida, C. australis, and tual material using a Dino-Lite digital camera. These two are cyclostomes, Idmonea incurva and indicate similar species to those observed in the I. geminata. West Australian artefact samples (Table 1). As According to Gillespie (2010) benthic foraminifera found by Benbow and Nicholson (1992), artefacts are the most conspicuous components of the from Wilson’s Bluff, Koonalda Cave, Head of the Nullarbor Limestone and include miliolines (e.g. Bight and those identified here from Eucla and Marginopora vertebralis, Sorites spp., Austrotrillina Allen’s Cave tend to be, but are not exclusively, howchini, Flosculinella sp.) and rotaliines (Miogypsina more translucent. It is notable that both the fossil- spp., Gypsina spp., Operculina spp.). In contrast bryo- iferous chert and also the chalky limestone were zoans, particularly delicate branching bryozoans, are used in the manufacture of artefacts from Koonalda rare in the Nullarbor Limestone (Gillespie 2010; Cave. Embedded bryozoan fossils which form the Lowry 1970). Large encrusting celleporiform bryozo- bulk of the chert matrix are best identified using ans (Celleporaria) do occur often in association with polarised light both on the surface (e.g. Figure corals, some of which have been locally replaced by 5(A–P)) and also in thin section (Figure 5(G,H); see chert (e.g. see Figure 4.5 in Gillespie 2010). From also Benbow and Nicholson 1992). Benbow and this basic differentiation of foraminifera and other Nicholson (1992) identified a further five sites in 176 I. WARD ET AL.

Figure 5. Photos of bryozoans within fossiliferous chert artefacts and geological thin sections. (A) Black fossiliferous chert (B) Porina sp. in white chert (C). Utilised flake fragment (D). Siphonicytara sp. (E) Adeonellopsis sp. (?) (F) Porina sp. (?) (G) Cellaria sp. (?) (H, I) Siphonicytara sp. (J) n.d. (K) Porina sp. (L) Trigonopora sp. (M) Complete flake (N) Cellaria sp. (O) Invertebrate fossil impression (P) Adeonellopsis sp.(?). Black scale bar is approximately 1 cm. the Great Victorian Desert with artefacts similar to Burr rockshelter, Campbell (AA-52-4-7E South the fossiliferous chert from Wilson’s Bluff, including Australian Museum Archives) argued that the supply Pinjarra Rock Hole, Round Rock Hole, Yallabinna of flint (sic) was locally derived: Rocks, OTC Rock Hole. Both black (Figure 5(A)) … from deposits occurring in the old beach strands and white (Figure 5(B)) fossiliferous chert was iden- which can be seen in the lower levels encircling Mt tified in the Allen’s Cave artefacts. Burr and Mt Graham highlands. [But even here] In contrast, artefacts from Ooldea, Stuart Range, the majority of flint from the Burr shelter does not Gambier and Kongorong tended to be more weath- appear to have the compact, clean texture of that in ered and opaque in colour with bryozoan fossils the vast Kongorong deposits. clearly evident on the surface of many artefacts Campbell’s diaries dating 1940–1960 (AA52-4-8N) from iron staining (e.g. Figure 5(I–P)). Those from document many other sites in the southeast of South Kongorong also preserved surface remnants of Australia where flint (sic) artefacts were found but he larger marine fossils, including echinoderm and does not specifically identify them as fossiliferous crustaceans (Figure 5(O)). chert, noting only that it formed in the ‘Coraline Benbow and Nicholson (1992) did not identify limestone underlying most of Lower SE South these fossiliferous cherts but they did observe black- Australia and was traded east into Victorian desert varnish on some of younger (Miocene) Wimmera region’. Nullarbor Limestones. This black varnish is evident These preliminary analyses indicate a possible dif- in the artefacts from the Gambier region (e.g. Figure ferentiation of fossiliferous chert distribution east and 5(L)), implying they may derive from the Nullarbor west of the Eyre Peninsula. Broadly, artefacts found Limestone or other inland sources. At nearby Mount west of the Eyre Peninsula and along the coastal AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 177

Nullarbor tend to conform to the Eucla Basin limestones, whilst those to the east and northeast con- sp., sp., sp., sp., sp., form more to the Otway Basin limestones (e.g. sp.,

Cellaria Gambier Limestone). To this end, Nicholson and , Cellaria sp. sp. sp. sp. a sp. Idmonea

sp., Cane (1991:6) document a proportional decrease in sp. sp. Idmonea sp., Reteporella

sp., number and size of flint (sic) artefacts and propor- sp., sp. sp., tional increase in the use of local carbonate rock Porina Trigonopora Idmonea Trigonopora Siphonicytar ‘further east along the coast (away from the source)’. Trigonopora Trigonopora Adeonellopsis Porina Adeonellopsis sp., Cellaria Cellaria Cellaria Adeonellopsis sp., Cellaria Quadracellaria Nicholson (1994:31) writes: The material described as flint [on the West Eyre Peninsula] is considered to be derived from the fine- grained silica enriched nodules contained within the Wilson Bluff formation in the Nullarbor Limestone series of the Eucla Basin. Microscopic examination has so far been unable to confirm that the ‘flint’ artefacts found on the West Coast sites are made of Wilson Bluff limestone. However, in the absence of Example artefacts Identified bryozoa an alternative source and on the basis of field : E4/35/1, E4/37/1 : E4/22/23, E4/22/51, E4/26/4 : 14/16/11, E4/19/15, E4/19/13

: E4/10, D3/8/2 identifications, this material is considered to be 18 ka 11 ka 8ka 5ka – – – derived from the Wilson Bluff formation. – 30 18 11 8

Evidence for a formal trade route There is no doubt that Wilson’s Bluff (known to the Mirning as Kaldiyerra) was an important Ã mythological, ceremonial and quarry site (Gara and Cane 1988). Tindale and George (1976:27) indi- cated that Aboriginal people sometimes travelled across the Nullarbor Plain to obtain flint from the cliffs at Wilson’s Bluff, and more than once in fine-grained chalcedonic matrix. Some bioclasts replaced by fibrous chalcedony. referred to a song line (specifically a bush turkey Not determined Not determined A37108 Not determinedNot determined A28517, A28834, A57350 A36895, A39696, A30416 Not determined A1364, A53693, A41881, A54328 ?? Relict bioclasts (especially bryozoans) Not determined A28502 dreaming myth) that lists a series of waters across the plain leading to the mine (Tindale 1965:559, 1982:99). Kim Akerman (cited in Cane and Gara 1989:26) has documented references to the same song line as far away as Fitzroy Crossing over 2,500 km to the north, implying a further significance of the Wilson Bluff site in the past. Indeed Tindale (1982:99) suggests this elaborate turkey song line preserves a memory of one of the latest effects of the Post-Glacial sea level rise, implying a long antiquity to this song line and to Wilson’s Bluff itself. Earlier letters (e.g. Bates 1932b) and a newspaper publication (Figure 6 from Bates 1930) of Bates imply the flint mine was a focal site for an Aboriginal trade route which ran around the whole continent from the Kimberley, through central Australia and the Eyre region, along the southern coast and west via the Wheatbelt region. According to Bates (1930): fossils (byrozoa) visible as white traces etc.) often visible through black discolouration embedded fossils (bryozoa, coral,from etc.) discolouration visible as white/translucent traces or crust or embedded and visible through discolouration (iron-staining) (bryozoa) visible as white outline (or as transparent outline in chalk) outer white crust with fossil fragments discolouration (iron staining)

Zonation - inner fossiliferous core; middle translucent to transparent zone; … special white flints [of the Eucla district] … were taken along the traditional trade route north-northeast by the Fowler’s Bay and Streaky Bay remnants,

Summary of features of artefacts from South Australian archives. who bartered them with some Gawler range

s Bluff survivors, whence they were sent towards Lake ’ s Cave Light to dark grey, mainly translucent chert rock with numerous embedded ’ Eyre … , zigzagging east or west as trade or occasion (thin section) Table 1. Location Macroscopic Microscopic Allen GambierBold value signifies the age ranges (ka) for Pale the brown, different non-translucent units chert sampled rock, from with this embedded site. fossils (bryozoa, coral, Wilson OoldeaKoorongarong White, pale yellow to orange, non-translucent chert rock with Pale numerous brown - yellow, non-translucent chert rock, with skeletal fossils on surface Eucla Mainly white translucent to transparent chert rock, with numerous fossils Koonalda Cave Similar to Eucla material Not determined C15-3, C14-15, C15-25 Stuart Range Pale brown, non-translucent chert rock, with embedded fossils outlined from offered, the goods being bartered by each group. 178 I. WARD ET AL.

Benbow and Nicholson (1992:5) suggest that it is possible that flint from this source was traded because of its ritual or mythological significance rather than as a commercial stone resource. Indeed, according to Bates (1944:124), some goods were valued just because they came from distant locations. Similar to Bates’s own studies, a more recent investigation by Nicholson (1994) of the western part of the Eyre Peninsula implies that movement of lithics was not just unidirectional. Other stone materials found on these sites support the movement of exotic raw materials into this coastal area … The presence of artefacts made on volcanics suggests the movement of material from the Gawler Ranges, over 100 km to the east. Figure 6. Map of Australia showing Aboriginal trade route as published by Bates (1930). Points of the line are Darwin, (Nicholson 1994:32). Springvale (Qld), Carawa (SA), Mount Buraminya (WA) and If the movement of fossiliferous chert from the Broome (WA). Nullarbor cliffs across hundreds of kilometres is assumed, then the question is over what period this The white flints became magic objects in distant occurred, i.e. whether this network was sustained areas and were either used as specially prized initiation knives or were polished and brightened throughout the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. and called jal’yimurra, jarra murra, darr mrra, Our investigations of the Allen’s Cave artefacts at jaly’ir djula meaning ‘magic spirit stones’. least confirm fossiliferous chert did occur through- Bates describes the transport of this flint: out at least one part of the excavation, namely E4, – … … from the earlier deposits dated to 30 18 ka through visiting groups brought big lumps on their – heads or their women carried them in water scoops or to the later deposits dated to 8 5 ka. Bryozoan fos- in bags, and these were chipped and bartered until the sils were most visible on the Holocene age artefacts, very last portion was so bartered. … the white flint which included one black fossiliferous chert artefact becoming more valuable the further it went. (E4/19/15). Fossiliferous chert artefacts are also Further to this evidence, Tindale and Noone abundant in Pleistocene age deposits from Devil’s (1941:116; see also Tindale 1982) describe a discov- Lair and Tunnel Cave, only declining in the early to ery in the coastal dunes, mid Holocene (Worrell 2008; see also O’Leary et al. 2017). Thus, the possibility of long-distance trade of … [a] hoard or trade parcel which was in transit from the known flint sites on the coastal cliffs one fossiliferous chert in the Late Pleistocene is theoret- day’s journey to the East … [that] represents a ically possible, noting that the geomorphology of collection of material made during a flint knappers the Nullarbor coastline would have been different. … expedition . An example [of worked stone tools] Nicholson and Cane (1991) questioned the role made of similar material to this hoard has been of the coast in Aboriginal economies, and specific- found 180 miles away to the north at Wardaruka (Boudary Dam), and other examples have been ally why there is so little evidence of marine exploit- noted at Ooldea (200 miles east, Bates (1930). ation along the Nullarbor coastline. Preservation and visibility were amongst several potential explan- The key implication is the suggestion that some fossiliferous chert may have been stockpiled along ations, with the sheer cliffs clearly a geographic obs- parts of trading route(s). tacle. There is an inherent assumption in some of Trade of flint from Wilson’s Bluff in exchange these explanations that people were restricted to the for spears, shields, ochre and pearl-shell—including modern coast. However, based on modern bathym- from as far north as the Pilbara and Kimberley—is etry (Figure 1; see also Wright 1971, Figure 1) the also described by Gara and Cane (1988:81–82 and southern coastline would have been up to 300 km references) with Ooldea noted as a centre for trade. further south at the peak of the Last Glacial, and However, subsequent studies could find no artefac- still up to 100 km further south until the terminal tual evidence to corroborate widespread trading of Pleistocene. Hence it is possible that people were Nullarbor Plain artefacts (Benbow and Nicholson occupying and traversing the now drowned coastal 1992; Cundy 1990). However, there was some evi- plain, accessing gravel beaches and exploiting any dence from museum archives of movement of springs and soaks. Even the seams of fossiliferous Wilson Bluff flint over distances of at least 300 km chert may have been more accessible with climbing across the Plain and beyond (Nicholson 1994:32). dunes abutting the cliff faces (Figure 7). AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 179

Figure 7. Photograph of Norman Tindale standing on top of the Wilson Bluff cliffs (South Australian Museum archive refer- ence 338-50-005). Note the climbing dunes in the background.

Unfortunately, any evidence for this will be In order to better delimit the provenance, distribu- almost certainly lost through erosion, with the only tion and use of biogenic cherts across mainland possibly hint of this provided from remnant dunes southern Australia, the different assemblages of fossil and offshore islands such as the Recherche Islands fragments—in particular the bryozoan and foraminif- WA that would have been cut off by the post-glacial eral elements—in the chalk and limestone stratigraphy transgression (see also Dortch and Morse 1985). of the Eucla Basin, and also the Perth and Otway Chert artefacts have been identified on at least two Basins need to be fully characterised. However, the of the islands (Ward et al. 2019) but these are sur- Nullabor cliffs are the primary focus because of the face finds and have no chronological context. Hence potential to characterise the chert-bearing limestone what is needed is a systematic investigation of fossil- sequences and because of the importance given to iferous chert both spatially across southern Australia this coastline, especially the Wilson Bluff/Eucla region, and also temporally from a number of excavations. for the procurement and exchange of fossiliferous chert by Aboriginal peoples. Geological collections relating to the Nullabor cliff stratigraphy are available Conclusion—Wider significance and from both the South Australian and Western future research Australian Geological Survey but comparative fossiliferous chert source material from other locations is As with previous work on fossiliferous chert also needed. This information can be compared with ’ (O Leary et al. 2017; Key et al. 2019; Ward et al. the microfossil assemblages in the artefacts, perhaps 2019), this study demonstrates the potential for aided by other artefactual characteristics (e.g. cortex using microfossil assemblages to help identify pos- type, core size, etc.), as a means to identify potential sible source(s) and distribution of this iconic mater- primary and/or secondary source(s). ial. Our preliminary investigation of the South The assessment of artefact assemblages that con- Australian archives indicates a possible differentiation tain fossiliferous chert remains a whole area of of fossiliferous chert sources east and west of the Eyre research in itself not least because of the way source Peninsula,withtheformerconformingmoretothe characteristics can influence the extraction, use and Otway Basin limestones and the latter to the Eucla distribution of artefacts and what that may indicate Basin limestones. It remains unknown whether the about mobility and trade (Andrefsky 1994; preliminary lithological distinction in fossiliferous chert Brantingham 2006; Ditchfield 2016). Characteristics relates in any way to the different territorial groups of retouch may also inform us about recycling and along the South Australian coast, which include the possible associated value given to fossiliferous chert Mirning of the South West region, and the Wirangu, artefacts over space and time (e.g. Worrell 2008). Nauo (Nawu), Banggarla and other groups of the These are important questions for future research Spencer Gulf (east of Eyre Peninsula) region. and beyond the scope of this study. 180 I. WARD ET AL.

However, the possibility of continental-scale trade References of fossiliferous chert from a major source(s) along Anon. 1947 Scientific study at Millicent. The South the southern coast is given credence from ethno- Eastern Times 21 February 1947. graphic descriptions by scholars, including Bates, Andrefsky, W.J. 1994 Raw-material availability and the Campbell and Tindale. Furthermore, fossiliferous organisation of technology. American Antiquity 59(1): chert is just one indicator of a potential widespread 21–34. exchange network that included the exchange of Bates, D.M. 1918 Aborigines of the west coast of South Australia, vocabularies and ethnographical notes. axes, shields, spears and totem boards from the Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 42: north (Kimberley) with groups from the Bibbulmen 152–167. in Western Australia (Bates 1932a). Bates, D.M. 1921 The great plain’s edge. The Australasian The questions that this and previous studies of 27 August 1921. the fossiliferous chert artefacts in Australia open up Bates, D.M. 1930 Great Aboriginal trade route. The Australasian 1 November 1930 p. 4. by virtue of considering long-distance trade are Bates, D.M. 1932a South Australian Museum Archives, numerous. Such questions include how the accessi- Extracts from letters from Mrs Daisy Bates, Ooldea, bility of these sources (including potential sub- Trans-Continental Railway. AA23-1-3-8/1, 7 February merged ones) have changed over time, how the 1932. different fossiliferous cherts are represented in the Bates, D.M. 1932b South Australian Museum Archives, archaeological record, the processes that are Extracts from letters from Mrs Daisy Bates, Ooldea, Trans-Continental Railway. AA23-1-3-15/1, 7 June involved in the preservation of that record, and 1932. what the available record indicates about mobility Bates, D. 1944 The passing of the Aborigines: a lifetime and exchange across Australia (see also McBryde spent among the natives of Australia. London: Murray. 1997). These are questions that need to be investi- Beasley, A.W. 1984 The importance of flint. Australian – gated further through the same kind of a ‘teaming Gem and Treasure Hunter 88 (March):34 36. ’ Benbow, M.C. 1990 Tertiary coastal dunes of the Eucla up of anthropology, archaeology and geology as Basin, Australia. Geomorphology 3(1):9–29. exemplified in many of the early expeditions of Benbow, M.C., J.M. Lindsay, W.K. Harris and B.J. Cooper Thomas Draper Campbell and Norman Tindale 1982 Latest Eocene marine incursion, northeast of the (Anon. 1947). Eucla Basin. Geological Survey of South Australia, Quarterly Geological Notes 81:2–9. Benbow, M.C., and Nicholson A. 1992 Aboriginal stone Acknowledgements tools: a geological study of source, nature and distribution in the Nullarbor Plain region. Report to The authors wish to give a big thanks to Lea Gardam and Department of Mines and Energy Geological Survey Alice Beale who gave their time to make available the SA South Australia. Report book 92/94 (DME177/87). Museum archival ethnographic and archaeological mater- Black, E.C. 1967 South Australian Museum Archives, ial. We also wish to thank Geological Survey SA, espe- Field notebooks and data relating to Australian cially Peter Waring and Mario Werner, for access to Archaeology and Anthropology. AA 31/1/1. archival thin section material, and Annie Nicholson for Blakemore, A.G., C.V. Murray-Wallace and T.J. Lachlan access to her Nullarbor report. Finally, we thank the three 2014 First recorded evidence of subaqueously-deposited anonymous reviewers. late Pleistocene interstadial (MIS 5c) coastal strata above present sea level in Australia. Marine Geology 355:377–383. Disclosure statement Bourman, R.P., C.V. Murray-Wallace and N. Harvey 2016 Coastal landscapes of South Australia. Adelaide: No potential conflict of interest was reported by University of Adelaide Press. the authors. Brantingham, P.J. 2006 Measuring forager mobility. Current Anthropology 47(3):435–459. Campbell, T.D. 1940–1960 South Australian Museum Funding Archives: archaeological data. AA52/4/2. Cane, S. 1995 Nullarbor antiquity: archaeological, lumi- This study was funded in part from a grant to IW by the nescent and seismic investigations on the Nullarbor College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders Plain. Unpublished report to the National Estate University (Research Support Program grant num- Grants Program, Australian Heritage Commission, ber 09172). Department of State Aboriginal Affairs, Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Cane, S., and T. Gara 1989 Undiri, Aboriginal association ORCID with the Nullabor Plain. Unpublished report to National Parks and Wildlife Service, South Australia. Ingrid Ward http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0566-1479 Cann, J.H., C.V. Murray-Wallace, A.P. Belperio and A.J. Marcus M. Key http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4097-0143 Brenchley 1999 Evolution of Holocene coastal environ- Michael O’Leary https://orcid.org/0000-0001- ments near Robe, southeastern South Australia. 7040-3137 Quaternary International 56(1):81–97. AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 181

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